Curly Kate and Doc
by ucsbdad
Summary: Kate's life is in danger, but who's protecting her? COMPLETE!
1. Chapter 1

Curly Kate and Doc

By

UCSBdad

Disclaimer: This here's cattle country, sheepherder….Oh, wrong line. I don't own Castle. Or cattle. Rating: K Time: Sometime after Once Upon a Time in the West.

**Author's note: I recently took a trip to Tombstone, Arizona. I had an idea while I was there, and this is the result. **

After circling the block twice, Kate was happy to see a car pulling out from right in front of the diner. She could have lunch with her father without having to run for a block through the pouring rain. Once inside, she saw her dad stand up and wave to her.

"Hi, Dad. Don't give me a hug, I did get wet running in here from the car."

Jim laughed. "Okay, so how have you been?"

Kate looked behind her dad and saw the man with a gun approaching her. She shoved her dad down into the booth and tried to go for her own gun. She clawed at the buttons of her raincoat, but knew she was too late.

He pointed the gun at her head. "How does it feel, Beckett, to know you're looking at death? How does it feel, bitch?"

The woman across the aisle began screaming. Her companion started screaming a well. She heard a man yelling "Look out. Look out. Look out." Over and over again. It seemed like the whole diner was screaming.

Kate couldn't reach her Glock. She could see the man smiling as he aimed at her head.

The three shots came as a surprise. Kate had steeled herself for the feel of a bullet tearing through her body, but it was the gunman who was shot. He staggered a step backwards and tried to lift his pistol up. Another shot hit him in the forehead. He collapsed onto his back.

Kate was frozen for a second, then managed to get her raincoat open and draw her sidearm. Everyone was looking and pointing toward the kitchen. When Kate got to the kitchen door, she saw the cooks and busboys staring toward the back door.

"NYPD! Out of my way." She ran for the back. Quickly checking the alley behind the diner, she found it empty. She ran to the left where the nearest street was. It was empty as well. She headed for the street in front of the diner, again finding nothing. There were cars driving through the rain and pedestrians, but no one who looked like a gunman. Not that she'd seen him.

She went back in the diner by the front door. She held her badge up. "I'm a detective with the NYPD. I'm afraid you'll all have to stay here until we've taken your statements."

"Katie?" Her dad called to her. "I called Espo. He and Ryan were at the precinct. They should be here in minutes. And I called Rick."

In no time at all, Espo and Ryan pulled up, followed quickly by four police cruisers.

"Are you okay, Beckett?" Espo asked as soon as he got through the door.

Kate nodded. "I'm fine. Not a scratch."

"Looks like you got him." Ryan said, kneeling by the corpse.

"It wasn't me. Someone else shot him. I chased him through the kitchen, but he got away."

"Can you give us a description?"

She slowly shook her head. "I didn't see him."

Espo nodded, then faced the assembled diners. "Okay, people, listen up. We'll need to take your statements. Cooperate and you can all go home soon." Espo began directing the uniforms to take statements.

Kate saw a cab come to a screeching halt outside the diner. Her husband leapt out of the cab and ran into the diner. He headed straight for Kate.

"Castle! Don't traipse through the crime scene. Go around."

Rick smiled at her. "Now I know you're okay, Detective Beckett."

He ran down the other aisle to Kate.

"You're really okay?" He asked, holding her tightly.

"Not a scratch." Then Kate frowned. "Are you just glad to see me or is that a gun."

"I grabbed your .40 caliber Glock from the safe, just in case."

"Rick, if Gates found out…"

"Who's going to tell her?" Ryan said. "Beckett, if I can get your statement? And your dad's?"

"I didn't see anything, Ryan. Katie pushed me down into the booth as soon as she saw the guy."

Kate went over what had happened as carefully as she could.

"You say he called you by name?" Ryan asked. "He's got no ID on him, do you recognize him?"

Kate shook her head. "No, he doesn't look familiar."

"Uh oh." Castle muttered. "Captain Friendly is here."

Captain Gates walked in and spoke briefly to the uniform at the door. Then she headed for Kate.

"You're all right, Detective Beckett?"

"Yes, sir. Not a scratch."

"But you did kill your would-be assailant, I see."

"No, sir. Someone else coming from the kitchen shot him. I gave chase, but he got away."

"Captain Gates?" Esposito interrupted. "We're done with the interviews. I'm afraid we have typical eyewitness statements. Everyone seems to agree he had on a grey suit, but that's about it. Otherwise he's tall and short, skinny and chubby with black and blond hair. Oh, most agree he had two guns. One in each hand."

Ryan broke in. "Mr. Noyes, who was sitting in the last booth said there was something odd, or wrong, with the guns. But then he broke down. A panic attack, sir. We sent him to the ER."

One of the uniforms walked up. "One of the waitresses, a Mrs. Helen Schlagater, said she heard the shooter say something. She said he said, "I'm Huckleberry."."

Gates frowned. "Huckleberry?"

"Finn, Hound or pie?" Castle asked.

Gates glared at him. "Mr. Castle, that's enough of your levity."

"Sir?" Espo interrupted. "It might be a good idea to check the moniker and alias database. Do you remember the chocolate cream pie crew?"

Gates raised a skeptical eyebrow.

"They preyed on bodegas, convenience stores, mom and pop operations. One would go in with a chocolate cream pie, claiming to be from a bakery and looking for customers. He'd offer free samples and once everyone was gathered around, he'd pull a gun and one of team would empty the cash drawer and grab everyone's wallets. When they finally got caught, they found out that the leader had learned to bake in prison, but couldn't get a job because no one would hire an ex-con. Everyone said the pies were delicious."

"Okay, run it through the databases."

"One more thing, sir." Kate said "This wasn't a random attack. He called me by my name, Beckett. However, I don't recognize him. I'll go back to the precinct and…"

"You'll go home, Detective. You need a good meal and a good night's sleep. You can come in first thing tomorrow."

"Sir, I don't think…" Kate began.

"Mr. Castle, I authorize you to handcuff your wife if she tries to come to the precinct before tomorrow."

"Oh, I always do that at bedtime anyway." Rick replied, getting a glare from Kate and smothered laughs from Ryan and Esposito.

"One more thing, Mr. Castle. I got a call from the mayor before I left for here. He asked me if I would permit you to have a concealed carry permit. I'm telling you what I told him: I do not appreciate political interference in the way I run my precinct. Because of what happened to your wife today, I'm not making an issue of the firearm you're carrying. Now, take your wife home."

As soon as Kate and Rick entered the loft, Alexis ran to Kate and hugged her.

"You're all right? You're really all right?"

"I'm fine, Alexis, but how did you know anything was wrong?"

"Captain Gates called me. She said she wanted me to know that you were okay in case I saw anything on the news."

"Gates must be getting soft." Rick said, earning him a glare from both Kate and Alexis.

"Kate, you know I love my mom, but you also know she's….kind of a flake. And Gina tried, I guess, but I don't think she's the maternal type. For such a long time, I just had dad, but it's not like having a mom. I just want you to know how happy I am that you're with dad now."

Kate hugged Alexis back. "And I'm very glad I have both you and Rick. I never really expected to have a family like this, but I couldn't be happier now."

Rick joined the two in a group hug. "Okay, now I think Kate needs a rest. She's had a hard day."

He took her hand and led her into the bedroom. Once the door was closed, she threw her arms around him. "Please hold me, Rick. Just hold me."

He did, and eventually she began to talk.

"I knew I was going to die today. All I could think about was that I was going to lose you. After all we went through, after all I put you through, after I had finally broken down my walls and had found my one and done, I was going to lose everything. I wasted so many years, Rick. I should have gone to dinner with you after our first case together. I should have been with you for so many years."

Rick kissed her forehead.

"And I should have asked you to marry me the first time I saw you."

That made Kate giggle. "Where do you want it and will you marry me? That would have been original."

"We'll be together for a very long time, Mrs. Castle, but for now I think you need a nap."

"Will you stay with me?"

"Always. We'll take a nap, then we'll order out for some Chinese, and then go to bed."

"Will we fool around a little?" Kate winked at him.

"No."

"No?"

"We'll fool around a lot."

The next morning, Rick and Kate arrived at the precinct at seven AM, only to find Esposito and Ryan there ahead of them.

"Beckett, we have good news and bad news." Espo said.

"Good news first, I think."

"We IDed your shooter. He's Charles Wisnewski. You and Royce busted him and his brother, Michael, for armed robbery, ADW and sexual assault in 2002. He's been upstate ever since then and just got out a week ago. We have his jacket and I asked files for his brother's file."

"And the bad news?"

"His mother is here. She's talking to Captain Gates. Gates asked you and Castle to see her as soon as you came in."

"Oh!" Castle said, grimacing. "What do you say to a mother at times like this?"

"Very little." Kate replied. "She'll probably do most of the talking." Kate took a deep breath. "Let's get this over with."

Kate knocked on Gates' door and walked in, with Castle right behind her.

"Detective Beckett, this is Theresa Wisnewski, the mother of yesterday's shooting victim."

Mrs. Wisnewski, an elderly lady, was dressed in a faded floral print dress and had obviously been crying. Her first words surprised Kate.

"I'm so glad you're all right, Detective Beckett."

Kate managed a reply. "I'm very sorry for your loss, Mrs. Wisnewski."

She slowly shook her head. "I've been expecting this for years. All of my boys took after my idiot ex-husband. Ten years ago, he decided to knock over a mob run bookie joint in Brooklyn. "There'll be plenty of money." My ex said to the two idiots who followed him. There was plenty of money and plenty of wiseguys with guns. Of course, by the time the cops were called, the money, betting slips and guns were all gone. Just a bunch of guys who heard shots and called the cops. And three dead thugs."

"Detective, Mrs. Wisnewski has explained to me why her son wanted to kill you. You and Officer Royce arrested both Charles and Michael Wisnewski in the middle of an armed robbery. Michael shot at you and you returned fire, hitting him in the shoulder. He lost the use of his right arm."

Mrs. Wisnewski shook her head sadly. "That boy had a short temper and no brains at all. He lost his temper and threw a punch at some prison gang member, and him with just one good arm. Got beat up for his trouble and so what does he do? Hits the guy's "boyfriend" over the head with a big soup ladle the next day. Got shanked the day after that. Charley blamed you, of course."

"There's more, I'm afraid, Detective Beckett. Mrs. Wisnewski has told me that she has two more sons and she's afraid they'll be coming after you."

"Jimmy is as dumb as the rest of them, but you have to watch out for Tom. He's smart. I always hoped he'd make something of himself and not be a…" Mrs. Wisnewski stopped and began to cry softly.

"Mrs. Wisnewski, I'll have an officer drive you home. Thank you so very much. We'll try our best to stop your sons if they try something, but I can't promise they'll be all right."


	2. Chapter 2

Curly Kate and Doc

By

UCSBdad

Disclaimer: This here's cattle country, sheepherder….Oh, wrong line. I don't own Castle. Or cattle. Rating: K Time: Sometime after Once Upon a Time in the West.

**Author's note: I recently took a trip to Tombstone, Arizona. I had an idea while I was there, and this is the result. **

Captain Gates called a uniform in and Mrs. Wisnewski left.

"Mr. Castle, I've asked Sergeant Polanco at One PP to expedite your concealed carry permit."

"You did? I thought you didn't approve of…"

"I don't. But I disapprove of vendettas against my officers even more. Whatever I may think of you, Mr. Castle, I know you'll do anything to protect your wife. So, you may take the pistol you've hidden in the right bottom drawer of your wife's desk out and wear it."

Castle decided he'd best do nothing but nod.

"Detective Beckett, you'll need to find the two Wisnewski brothers, and the man who shot Charles Wisnewski. Him being there just as Charles showed up can't be a coincidence. He must be connected to the Wisnewski brothers somehow. Perhaps part of a prison gang?"

When Rick and Kate got back to her desk, Ryan was waiting for them. "Espo is with Tori Ellis. She has the surveillance tapes from the diner."

They hurried to the video room to find Tori and Espo watching a video.

"You guys are in luck. The nephews of the diner's owner work there on weekends and are a pair of first class computer jocks. They've upgraded the surveillance system so you won't get the usual blurry black and white video you usually get, instead it looks like a hi def color TV. Take a look. This was taken from behind Beckett, showing Charles Wisnewski's face."

They watched as Charles approached Kate with his pistol out and Kate struggled to ger her raincoat open to reach her own gun.

"I've got a lipreading program so we can see what he said. They listened as a mechanical voice said, "How does it feel, Beckett, to know you're looking at death? How does it feel, bitch?".

Rick took Kate's hand in his. "You have no idea how that makes me feel."

"I can guess. About like I felt."

"Now, we'll look at the shooter from the other camera." They saw the man step out of the kitchen with a pistol in each hand. He was tall and rather slender with dark hair and a thick mustache.

"That's a good suit." Castle said. "I can't tell what the material is, but it's very well cut. Probably a bespoke suit."

Then the man fired.

"Whoa!" Castle said. "There was something wrong with his guns. Look at that smoke. Do you think the guns were dirty? Maybe had a lot of oil to smoke like that?"

Espo shook his head. "Can you give me a close up of the gun in his right hand, TorI?"

When the close up was up, Espo nodded. "That's a Colt Model 1873 Single Action Army revolver. They were designed to fire black powder cartridges. That's why there's smoke. Can you show me the other gun, Tori?" He stared at the other weapon. "Not a Colt Single Action, but they're both nickel plated with ivory grips. I'll have Sergeant Petrov look at it. He's a gun nut and knows every gun ever made."

"Can you read his lips, Tori?" Kate asked.

They got a close up of the man's face and the same mechanical voice said, "I'm your huckleberry."

"I'm your huckleberry?" Rick and Kate said together.

"What does that mean?" Ryan asked.

"He's a fruitcake." Espo grunted. "I called Petrov. He'll be up in a second."

Petrov did arrive in seconds. He was a tall, bulky uniform who could have retired, but preferred to stay on the job. He looked at the video.

"You got that right, Espo. That's the Colt Peacemaker. That is, a model 1873 Single Action Army revolver. And the other one is a Colt 1877 double action revolver. Just as a guess, I'd say it's a .41 caliber pistol."

"Where would someone get old guns like that?" Kate asked.

"Oh, Colt still makes the 1873 SAA, it's popular with a lot of shooters. And there are companies that make reproductions of the other Colt. You can get all kinds of reproductions of old guns. There are Civil War reenactors, American Revolution reenactors, Mountain Men reenactors, but most of those are in the West, plus people who just think they're fun to shoot."

"Let me run the whole video." Tori said. "Maybe you'll see something we missed."

Petrov frowned after watching the video. "That is odd. The guns made today are made with modern materials and are designed to be fired with modern smokeless powder cartridges. Those look to be more or less brand new. There'd be no reason to use old black powder cartridges."

"No reason at all?" Kate asked.

"Well, if he really thinks he's some kind of Old West gunslinger, he might want to use period ammunition. There's not a lot of it for sale, but you could reload modern brass cartridge cases with black powder easily enough, and he'd probably use lead slugs, not modern copper jacketed slugs."

Kate shook her head angrily. "Great! So, I have someone who thinks he's Wild Bill Hickock running around Manhattan shooting people."

"He probably doesn't think he's Wild Bill." Petrov said. "Hickock used Colt Navy .36 caliber revolvers. Now Billy the Kid favored the double action Colt."

"He could think he's the whole Wild Bunch and he's still a pain in the ass." She turned to Espo and Ryan. "Find out who sells these reproductions locally and see if they've sold these pistols. And Tori, please run that through facial recognition."

Kate's phone rang. After listening she stood up. "Lanie has a preliminary report for us."

"What do you have for us, Lanie?" Kate asked as soon as she walked through the door.

"And good day to you, too, Mrs. Castle. And I'm fine thanks, and you?"

"You'll have to forgive her, Lanie." Rick said. "She gets cranky when someone tries to blow her head off. I get more than cranky."

Lanie nodded. "Point taken. No surprise, COD was multiple GSWs. Whoever did this was pretty good. Any of the three shots in the chest would have been fatal in well under a minute and the shot to the head killed him instantly. Two guns were used…"

"One was .45 caliber and the other was a .41." Kate finished for her.

"You've been reading ahead. The slugs are odd."

"Let me guess, they're solid lead slugs, not copper jacketed like modern bullets."

"Are you planning on doing my job for me, Sweetie, because if you are, I'm out of here."

"And last, but not least, there was an odd residue on the slugs. As if they were fired with black powder."

"You don't need me at all, do you?"

Kate laughed and explained what had happened.

"So, someone thinks he's Wild Bill Hickock and is running around shooting people?" Lanie asked.

"Not Wild Bill." Castle said. "Wrong kind of pistol. Maybe Billy the Kid."

That got Castle a glare from both women.

When Kate and Rick got back to her desk, Espo was waiting for them.

"We're in luck. Reproductions of old guns aren't that popular in the city. There are only six places that sell them. Three here in Manhattan, one in Brooklyn and two in Queens."

"Okay, Castle and I'll take the ones in Manhattan. You and Ryan get the other three. This must be like a vacation for you, Espo. Getting to go to a gun store on the job."

"I'll try not to buy out the whole store. And, Tori made us screengrabs of the shooter to show around."

The first store that Rick and Kate went to did not carry a lot of reproductions.

"Not much call for them, Detective. Most people want modern weapon. If you're going up against some home invader with an AK 47, you don't want a hundred-year old gun in your hand. I've never carried the old double action Colt and the only Colt Peacemaker I've sold is to a production of Annie Get Your Gun, you know, the musical."

The second store had sold a number of the two Colts, but a check of the records showed that every sale was to a cop.

They had slightly better luck at the third store.

The store manager nodded when shown the photo of the suspect.

"He looks damned familiar. He's not a regular customer, though."

"Did he buy either of the two guns, or black powder ammunition, or reloading equipment?" Kate asked.

"I don't remember him buying anything. Then again, I don't recall that he specifically didn't buy anything. I just think he looks familiar. Let me ask some of the other salespeople."

Two of the salespeople thought the gunman looked familiar, but none of them remembered where and when they might have seen him.

They arrived back at the precinct a little ahead of Ryan and Espo.

"No luck, Beckett." Ryan said. "No one recognized our perp or had sold the guns or ammo. But Espo did fall in love with a cute, sexy…Glock."

"I hope you'll be very happy together, Espo. "Kate teased.

Just then, Gates stuck her head out of her office.

"Bad news, Detective Beckett. The alias and moniker data base came up with one hit on "huckleberry". The Huckleberry Kid is an eighty-nine year-old con man dying in a hospital in Oregon. Got his nickname from selling a truckload of huckleberries that didn't belong to him when he was a kid."

"Thanks anyway, sir."

Just before they left for the day, Tori came by Beckett's desk.

"I've run the photo of the suspect through every database there is and came up empty."

Rick nodded.

"If he's delusional, he might be an otherwise solid citizen. You know, the kind that when he's finally arrested, the neighbors all say what a sweet and quiet man he is."

Kate rolled her eyes. "Do try to make me feel better, Castle."

Once back at the loft, Castle put his arms around Kate.

"What do you say about planning a little vacation after this is over? Someplace nice and sunny."

Kate giggled. "You can't stop trying to get me into a skimpy swim suit, can you, Castle?"

"You mean I can't stop trying to get you out of one."

She kissed him softly. "Does that mean I have to put on a bikini before we go to bed tonight?"

"No, but think about the vacation idea."

They would vacation in someplace sunny, but not as they had imagined it

When they arrived at the precinct the next morning, they found Tori Ellis and a man they didn't know, waiting for them.

"Detective Beckett, Mr. Castle?" Tori said nervously. "We may have something for you."

"Sure, Tori." Beckett said with a smile. "Sit down, you and your friend…?"

"This is Danny Moretti. He works in IT at One PP. I was wondering if he had access to any databases for facial recognition that we didn't. But when I showed him the photo, he recognized the guy at once."

"Don't be so nervous, Tori." Rick said. "No one is going to punish you for going straight to One PP, especially not if you found the guy. Who is he?"

"Doctor John Henry Holliday." Moretti said.

"Do you have a current address?" Kate asked. "Does he have a jacket?"

Moretti looked pained. "Detective, he's Doc Holliday, the Old West gunfighter. The gunfight at the OK Corral? I have copies of all the proven photos of Doc Holliday here. It's a 99.9 percent match with your shooter."

Rick smiled. "That is so cool. Beckett got saved by a legendary gunfighter."

Kate twirled around in her chair and glared at him. "It is _not_ cool, Castle. This is _not_ Doc Holliday, who's been dead…."Kate stopped, unsure of when he'd died.

"Since November 8, 1887." Moretti said.

"But we have facial recognition, Beckett. You were saved by Doc Holliday. Face it."

"I was not saved by a long dead man. I was saved by some crazy who had plastic surgery to look like Holliday. That's the only thing that makes sense."

"By the way, "Moretti said, "Doc was partial to both the Colt single action Army revolvers and the 1877 Colt double actions. They were what he carried at the OK Corral. They were nickel plated and had ivory grips. And "I'm your huckleberry." is a line from the movie _Tombstone_. In the movie, Doc Holliday said it. It means something like, "I'm your man." or "I'll handle this for you."

Kate turned to Rick. "See, Castle. He doesn't think he's the real Doc Holliday, he thinks he's the film version."


	3. Chapter 3

Curly Kate and Doc

By

UCSBdad

Disclaimer: This here's cattle country, sheepherder….Oh, wrong line. I don't own Castle. Or cattle. Rating: K Time: Sometime after Once Upon a Time in the West.

**Author's note: I recently took a trip to Tombstone, Arizona. I had an idea while I was there, and this is the result. **

"Maybe." He replied, getting a glare in return.

"We need to start contacting plastic surgeons." Kate said. "I've heard of people having plastic surgery to look like their favorite movie star and it's very expensive. There can't be that many surgeons who would do that complex a job."

As she spoke, Ryan and Esposito came into the bullpen.

"Guys, over here. We have a new lead."

The new lead went nowhere over several days.

"Beckett?' Ryan said. "Got a minute?"

Kate slowly shook her head. "Right now, I've got nothing but time. What is it?"

"We've been checking plastic surgeons. We know that he could have had surgery done any place in the US, but we may have to expand our search. What we've been hearing from the doctors is that most of them won't do that kind of work, altering someone to look like someone else. Not only are they afraid that the changes are part of some kind of scam, but it rarely works. What they mean is that looking like Doc Holliday, or Brad Pitt or Katy Perry, or whoever, doesn't make you that person. You're still the same old you, and a lot of people blame the doctor when their lives don't change. However, there are a lot of places overseas that'll be happy to do the work."

Kate sighed and stared at her desk top, then rubbed her forehead.

"And I'll bet that a lot of these overseas doctors won't fall all over themselves helping us out?"

"They call it doctor-patient confidentiality. Sorry."

Kate checked her watch. "My faithful bodyguard should be back in a couple of minutes. I'm going to go home, have a good meal, a half a bottle of wine and let my brain rest."

"Are you going to let your body rest?" Castle said, coming up behind her.

"Follow me home and find out." She teased.

They were just getting out of the car service limo that Castle had ordered when someone yelled, "Beckett! Get down!"

They both dodged behind the limo as a burst of automatic fire hit the limo.

"I'm going to kill you and your husband, bitch. Even if they kill me, you'll be dead." That was followed by another burst that tore through the limo missing them by inches.

"You're a daisy if you do." Cried another voice. Another two shots, almost simultaneous, followed that.

Kate got on the ground so she could see from street level. Some thirty feet away was a man, prone, with blood pooling around his head. He lay on top of an AK 47.

"Castle, stay here." She barked.

"You know I never stay here."

Kate looked in the limo. "Driver? Are you all right?"

"Yeah, but I'll need to change my shorts."

Rick and Kate slowly and cautiously approached the downed man. In spite of the head wounds, Kate recognized him.

"It's Jimmy Wisnewski, I'm sure of it."

"The other dumb one?" Castle asked, trying to look in all directions at once. "Do you suppose the smart one is hiding someplace around here."

As he spoke, a patrol car, with siren blaring and lights flashing, roared around the corner. Kate quickly held up her badge to show that she was a police officer. Within a minute, three more patrol cars had arrived, quickly followed by Ryan and Esposito, then Captain Gates.

Kate explained what had happened to Gates.

"Someone shouted a warning to you and then shot the other Wisnewski brother?" Gates asked.

"It was the same person who saved Kate before." Castle said. "I'm sure of it."

"I thought that neither you nor Detective Beckett saw the man."

Castle nodded. "When Wisnewski yelled that he was going to kill us, Doc Holliday yelled, "You're a daisy if you do."."

Gates raised an eyebrow. "And what is that supposed to mean."

"I watched the movie _Tombstone_ on my iPad. In it, the Doc Holliday character uses the phrase, "I'm your huckleberry" to indicate he's the man for the job. He also used the term, "You're a daisy if you do." In the 1880s the daisy flower was the symbol of good and purity. Calling someone a daisy meant they were very good, in fact, better than the speaker. I looked it up on the Internet."

"And he got away again?"

"Wisnewski had an AK 47. I had to be careful, sir." Kate said.

"As you should have, Detective Beckett. As you should have."

"Sir, I'll go back to the precinct and write the report now."

Gates shook her head.

"Mr. Castle, take your wife home and don't let her come to the precinct before nine AM tomorrow."

When Rick and Kate arrived at the precinct the next morning, there was an officer from Narcotics waiting for them.

"You wanted to know about Thomas Wisnewski, Detective?"

"What can you tell us?"

"He's not really on our radar that much. He operates in Pennsylvania. He's a moneyman for meth cookers. He supplies the cash and they supply the product. But, he never comes near the product. He gets money from the meth cookers, and then manages to launder it, one way or another. The folks in Pennsylvania and the DEA have been after him for years with no luck. But he has disappeared from his usual haunts. I hate to say this, but I'd bet he's headed for New York and you."

"And he's the smart one. "Castle said. "He won't come at you head on like his two brothers. He'll probably hire someone for the job and if he doesn't do the job, he'll hire someone else."

"Try not to be so cheerful, Castle." Kate said, only slightly sarcastically.

Kate reported what she had been told to Gates.

"Detective Beckett, I'm putting a guard team on your building until this is over. And I'll have someone sitting with your doorman to make sure no one sneaks in while he's busy with other tenants."

"Sir, you really don't have to do that. You'll be taking needed manpower from other areas."

Gates looked over the rim of her glasses at Kate. "Do you have any idea how many people have volunteered for this, on their own time?"

"Sir?"

"You are apparently very well liked here, Kate. If something were to happen to you, or to Mr. Castle, the entire precinct would feel guilty. I can't have that, now, can I? And the NYPD can certainly pay for it."

"Thank you, sir. We'll do something nice for the volunteers when this is over."

The day passed with no further news of Thomas Wisnewski, nor any other useful information.

When they arrived at the loft, they found Esposito standing at the doorman's desk.

"The doorman is helping Mrs. Gabaldon with the garbage. She has trouble lifting it into the dumpster."

Kate ran her eyes over him. "You know, Espo, you might consider getting a doorman's uniform for yourself. I'm seeing you in a whole new light."

"I'm happy with the job I have, _chica_. Keeping you alive."

They ordered out for dinner and were only mildly surprised when Detective Stegner delivered it to their door.

"Stegner, we'll order some pizza for everyone if that's what you want." Castle offered.

"Thanks, Castle, but Gates is feeding us. We've got Chinese coming."

Everything was fine until a little after nine when they heard two distinct gunshots. Kate jumped to her feet and grabbed her Glock from the safe. Rick stood between her and the door.

"You're not going anyplace without your vest. Or without me."

"Castle, my vest is in my car downstairs. I need to go now."

"And suppose this is just a ruse to draw you out where Wisnewski can kill you? He's the smart one, remember?"

"Castle…"

"Kate, there are probably a dozen cops investigating already. We'll go to the lobby, find whoever is on duty, send them for our vests and then we'll investigate. Okay?"

She glared at him, but knew she would just waste more time trying to argue with him.

It took longer than Kate would have liked, but they finally made it to the building across the way. Ryan was there to explain what happened as they went to the crime scene.

"The shooter went to the top floor, facing your loft. Knocked on the door and told a Mrs. Berg that he was a new tenant and couldn't figure out how to work the thermostat. As soon as she opened the door, he shoved a gun in her face and told her she was dead if she made a sound. He used zip ties to hogtie her and tossed her on the bed. She said this was about seven o'clock. She didn't hear a thing until two shots went off."

By then they'd arrived at Mrs. Berg's apartment. She was being tended to by a paramedic.

"We're pretty sure it's the last Wisnewski brother, Thomas. It looks like he was shot twice in the chest and must have been dead when he hit the floor. He has an automatic rifle with a night vision scope on it. He must have planned to kill you two as soon as both of you stood in the window at the same time."

"I'm betting the two slugs are .45 and .41 caliber." Castle said.

"No takers. "Ryan said, shaking his head.

"One odd thing." LT said. "Wells and I were the first ones here. We had to break down the door. The top lock locks automatically when you close the door, but the bottom lock has to either be locked from the inside or with a key from the outside. Mrs. Berg has both sets of her keys."

"So how did the shooter get out?" Castle asked.

LT shrugged. "There are no other doors and the windows don't open. He had to have a key."

"Thomas was the smart one. He could have stolen a master key. When our shooter left, he grabbed the stolen key." Kate didn't quite believe that, but it was the only explanation that made any sense.

Once they had established that the dead man was Thomas Wisnewski, Rick and Kate went back across the street to their loft.

The first thing Kate saw when she entered was the man they had been looking for, sitting at their dining room table, playing solitaire and sipping a glass of whiskey. Kate went for her gun at once, only to find herself facing two guns before she had even pulled her Glock from her holster.

The man stood up, then threw his guns down on the table.

"My apologies, Mrs. Castle. A gentleman should never draw a gun on a lady in her own home."

Surprised, Kate stopped for a moment, then her training kicked in.

"Keep your hands where I can see than and stand up slowly."

As the man stood, she heard the sound of the toilet in the master bath being flushed.

"Castle. Cover him." She whispered.

"Me? Cover Doc Holliday?" Castle drew his .40 caliber Glock. "I hope you don't mind, Doc."

"It's only what I would expect, Mr. Castle." The man replied politely.

Kate recognized the man walking out of their bedroom at once.

"Simon Doyle? What are you doing here? And how did you get in? And raise your hands!" Kate said quickly.

"Please, Detective Beckett, let me explain."

"Doyle, put your hands on top of your head and get on your knees! You too, whoever you are. You're both under arrest."

"We really can't let you do that." Doyle said.

"And how…" Kate hadn't even finished the sentence and the two men disappeared.

"How cool!" Castle said.

"That is not cool, Castle. Help me search. They have to be here someplace."

"We're right behind you. "Doyle said, as Kate whirled around. "And please note that when we went back up time, Doctor Holliday changed from his grey suit into a nice blue one. I changed from jeans and a hoodie to khakis, a black tee and a brown leather jacket. Moving uptime and downtime is much easier now."

"I don't know how you did that, but you're under…"

The men disappeared again.

They were gone for perhaps a minute and then reappeared. Doc was sitting at the table and picked up his glass. Doyle was sprawled on the couch. Both had changed clothing again.

"Please, Detective Beckett, if you'd just listen to us." Doyle pleaded.

"Kate, honey, we should listen to them. Whatever is going on here, it's pretty strange."

Kate sighed and holstered her Glock. "Okay, talk."

**Author's note for those who have read my Into Africa: In that, I said I didn't believe that the Romans had ever made it as far as modern Niger. Boy, was I wrong. Guest mereel1401 has corrected me. Please see Romans in Sub-Saharan Africa in Wikipeida. That'll teach me to do better research. **


	4. Chapter 4

Curly Kate and Doc

By

UCSBdad

Disclaimer: This here's cattle country, sheepherder….Oh, wrong line. I don't own Castle. Or cattle. Rating: K Time: Sometime after Once Upon a Time in the West.

**Author's note: I recently took a trip to Tombstone, Arizona. I had an idea while I was there, and this is the result. **

"My mission to go downtime to get close to Garrett Ward was a success. Not that I got close to Ward. The man had no friends at all. But his tradecraft was awful. We were able to identify all of the people involved. Not just the people, but the dirty money they had, weapons, blackmail material, all sorts of things. We managed to alert the authorities then, and they were all arrested. That set their leader's plans back by years."

"Their leader?" Castle asked.

"Senator William Bracken. If we hadn't destroyed key parts of his organization, you never would have gotten him before he became President Bracken. But you did, and, so, you never became Senator Beckett to led the fight against Bracken. And your husband continued writing that awful pulp fiction about the fictional you."

"I think Nikki Heat is the best thing I ever did."

"Didn't you even consider writing something serious?" Doyle demanded.

"What could be more serious than writing about my muse? And the love of my life."

"I agree with Mr. Castle. I find them far superior to the penny dreadfuls of my day." Doc said, taking another sip of whiskey. "I must apologize for taking your whiskey without permission, sir. It was a most ungentlemanly thing to do. I must plead a severe need for alcohol after my recent adventures."

"Please help yourself." Castle said with a smile.

"I shall." Doc replied, pouring more into his glass.

"Why are you and he here?" Kate demanded.

"When I was back uptime, I discovered that you had been murdered by that Wisnewski fellow. It absolutely destroyed your husband. He never wrote a word again. He just sat in the loft looking at pictures of you and drinking. The drinking eventually killed him."

"A better demise than my own, I should think." Doc said, downing the glass all at once.

"I decided at once that your death had to be stopped. However, the temporal authorities didn't agree. Saving the important Senator Beckett was one thing, they said, but saving an unknown police officer? They felt there were better uses for their resources."

"You obviously convinced them that Kate was worth it."

"No. I decided it was better to beg forgiveness than to ask permission. Luckily I have a number of friends in the temporal authority."

"Why didn't you come back and kill Wisnewski yourself?" Kate asked.

"I'm just not a killer. I doubt I could kill for any reason, so I went looking for someone to help. First, I went to Sergeant Alvin York, the World War One hero and marksman. He thought I was crazy or a minion of Satan. Then I tried John Wesley Hardin, the old west gunfighter."

"I never met the man, "Doc said, "but I was reliably told that the man was pure evil." Doc took another drink.

"I agree. He was more than willing to kill anyone. So, I tried Doc Holliday."

"I thought Mr. Doyle was the most amusing lunatic I had ever met. Imagine my surprise when he turned out to be telling the unvarnished truth."

"When did you contact Doc?" Rick asked.

"At the end of October 1887."

"But he died on November 8, 1887. Why does he look so good now?"

"I went back uptime and found a corpse we could change to look like Doctor Holliday. It wouldn't have fooled an autopsy, even in 1887, but everyone knew it was Doc, so no one looked. Then the two if us went back uptime. We cured Doc's tuberculosis and repaired his lungs. Also, his liver, which had taken quite a beating."

Doc smiled and drank his glass dry, filling it once more. "It is still taking a beating."

"So now you're going back to the future?" Castle asked.

"The correct term is back uptime. And, no, I can't go back yet."

"Why not?" Kate asked.

"I have to find sometime to put Doc. I can't send him back to 1887. A perfectly healthy Doc Holliday would be noticed. Not just noticed, but a "miraculous" cure of tuberculosis would become world famous. Someone uptime from 1887 would notice eventually and start wondering about time travel. The temporal authorities are very strict about that sort of thing."

"So, take him back to your time."

"The authorities would…Well, I don't know what they'd do. No one has ever permanently come forward to our time. But it would be drastic."

"There are many things I do enjoy about your time." Doc said. "The way even the most respectable of ladies dress, for one. And your alcohol is far superior to any I've had before." Doc drained and filled his glass once more. "But your gambling dens are not what I'm accustomed to. Oh, the air conditioning and the electrical lights are nice, but they all seem to be designed to separate the sucker from his cash as rapidly as possible. They're quite soulless. I've heard the term "the gilded mousetrap" bandied about."

"I did take Doc to Atlantic City." Doyle said.

"And they have the most absurd rules about carrying firearms." Doc added.

Doc took another long drink. "I have enjoyed, somewhat, the portrayals of me in your motion pictures. The one with that Henry Fonda fellow was awful from a historical point of view. I thought Kirk Douglas, while a charming and handsome young lad, didn't capture me. The less said about Jason Robard's portrayal the better. But I thought that Kilmer fellow captured my very soul."

"Did you actually use, in your own time, the terms," I'm your huckleberry.", or "You're a daisy."? Rick asked.

Doc nodded. "I have used the term daisy to refer to a fine fellow, but I don't recall saying I was anyone's huckleberry. However, in my cups, I may have said anything."

"And why use those Colts?" Kate asked. "Modern weapons would be more useful."

Doc smiled. "Perhaps, but those weapons have served me well."

"Getting back to my problem, do either of you have any ideas?" Doyle asked.

Rick and Kate looked at each other, then back at Doc and Doyle. Then, after a minute or so, Rick smiled.

"I have a cunning plan."

**Author's note: Okay, this chapter was kind of short, but how can you not end a chapter with Rick smiling and saying, "I have a cunning plan."? **


	5. Chapter 5

Curly Kate and Doc

By

UCSBdad

Disclaimer: This here's cattle country, sheepherder….Oh, wrong line. I don't own Castle. Or cattle. Rating: K Time: Sometime after Once Upon a Time in the West.

**Author's note: I recently took a trip to Tombstone, Arizona. I had an idea while I was there, and this is the result. **

**Six months later.**

Rick nudged his sleeping wife.

"The plane's landed, Kate. Time to wake up."

"I'm awake." She said, then yawned and stretched.

The plane came to a full stop and the flight attendant walked over to them, a professional smile on her face.

"Mr. and Mrs. Castle, thank you for flying on Deseret Air, and if you ever need a private jet in the future, please consider us. Your limousine is right outside the aircraft's doors. Have a good stay."

The limousine was right outside with the driver standing by the passenger door. He was dressed as a cowboy gunslinger, down to the bright red sash around his waist.

He doffed his Stetson and opened the door.

"On behalf of Doc Holliday's Saloon, welcome to Tombstone, Arizona, the town to tough to die. My name is Stilwell and if you need anything, all you have to do is ask."

"Just take us to Doc's." Rick said.

As they drove toward Doc's, Stillwell spoke to them.

"You can just see the first of our hotel's towers just to the right. The saloon, with the casino, has been completed for several months and the second hotel tower will start soon. The golf course will be a while. Some problem concerning the layout of the back nine."

"Do you play golf?" Kate asked.

"Who? Me? A red blooded, rootin', tootin' six gun shootin' cowboy? Durn tootin' I do, Ma'am."

They pulled up to the front of Doc's to be greeted by a local Apache in 1880's costume.

"Howdy, Mr. and Mrs. Castle. Per Doc's instructions, you're allowed to carry your personal sidearms inside and not have to leave them at the bar."

Kate was dressed in the black gunslinger's outfit she'd worn on her honeymoon in Arizona. Rick had decided to dress up a bit. He wore a black suit, the coat fashionably buttoned at the top, a blue shirt with a white collar and a large, floppy red bow tie. His hat was a fashionable derby. At his waist was his Colt Single Action Army revolver.

"Thank you. And you are?" Rick asked.

"Name's Tzoe, but the white folks call me Peaches. I'm an Apache Scout for the US Army." He lowered his voice. "I'm off duty now, but I'm also a local peace officer."

"Same here." Kate said. "Glad to meet you."

Once inside, the found themselves in what might have been a luxurious saloon of the 1880s. However, the "gas lamps" actually had LED lights in them and the "authentic" cash registers had computers inside.

Only a few of the customers had decided to dress up in 1880s clothing. They could easily be told by their empty holsters. Otherwise, there were cowboys, miners, gunslingers, gamblers, soldiers and saloon girls scattered around the large casino. They were employees and had pistols in their holsters, although they lacked live ammunition.

They could hear Doc talking from a card table in the middle of the room. People were crowded around him.

"I never did cotton to Ike Clanton, the man was a bully, a drunkard and a damned thief. But he was no coward as that motion picture showed him to be." Doc suddenly caught sight of Rick and Kate. "Why, its my good friends, "Dude" Castle and his wife, Curly Kate. I'll have to finish my story before I talk to you two, but Big Nose Kate here will get you some drinks."

A tall, willowy brunette detached herself from Doc and walked behind the bar.

"Three fingers of Laphroaig for you, Mr. Castle? And white wine for you, Mrs. Castle?"

"That'll be fine, but please call me Kate."

The girl giggled. "You can call me Kate as well. Big Nose Kate." She lowered her voice. "Doc doesn't like us to get out of character when were working, but my name is Beth Holland. I'm a theater arts major at ASU. And I have you to thank for my job here."

Kate raised an eyebrow. "You do? How?"

"When I came down here for the audition, all the other girls had these big, fake D cup boobs almost falling out. I figured I'd be lucky to get a job as the waif who emptied the spittoons or something. But Doc took one look at me and said I was the spitting image of his friend, Curly Kate from New York and decided right then and there that I'd be Big Nose Kate, his girlfriend."

"We do look a little alike." Kate said.

Big Nose Kate nodded "We both have long, light brown hair, although your is lighter than mine and we both have curls. Our eye color is about the same. You have great legs: I've seen photos of you, and my legs are my best asset. We're both B cups, I think, and you have a great ass. Luckily, my ass is covered by my bustle which make it look like my ass sticks out a foot behind me."

Suddenly there was a commotion at a gaming table behind them. A bearded miner stood up and threw his cards down.

"You're cheating me, you son of a bitch. I want my money back."

The gambler stood up, revealing that he was carrying a Smith and Wesson revolver.

"I didn't cheat you, you're just a bad card player. You should go cool off."

"I'll cool you off!" Yelled the miner, going for his gun.

Alas, the gambler was quicker and fired one shot. The miner fell to the floor.

"He drew on me." Cried the gambler. "That was self defense." The people at the table all agreed as two bartenders dragged the miner off.

"Don't worry." Big Nose Kate said. "The "dead" miner will be back in fifteen minutes as a cowboy or something."

"I wish things worked like that in my job. I'm a cop back in New York. A homicide detective."

"So, Doc tells everyone." Big Nose Kate looked over towards Doc. "I wonder about Doc sometimes. He's _never_ out of character. Sometimes I almost think he really does believe he's Doc Holliday."

Kate thought quickly. "It's probably like when you're undercover as a cop. You can't be a cop _pretending_ to be Elena Markov, you have to _be_ Elena Markov, even if no one is around you."

Big Nose Kate nodded. "I was a little worried at first. I mean, Big Nose Kate was a prostitute, after all. I was worried that Doc would want…you know, sex. But he's always been a perfect gentleman towards me and all the other girls. Sometimes I wish he'd do something. He's really a great guy."

Kate lowered her voice. "For the longest time I was terrified that I loved Rick more than he loved me and that one day he'd be gone and I'd be left heartbroken. Then one day I decided that not being with him was breaking my heart anyway, so I made the first move. Now I'm his wife and I know we'll always be together."

Big Nose Kate nodded. "Maybe I'll try that."

Doc stood up from the table. "Now I have to go see my friends. But I'll be back to tell you all how I didn't shoot Johnny Ringo." Doc motioned to Rick and Kate to follow him to the office.

Sitting behind the desk was Simon Doyle.

"Rick, Kate. Would you like to see the books on Doc's Saloon?"

Rock shook his head. "Not necessary. The accountants back in New York tell me we're making money. However, I'm not too sure how you got to open a casino here."

"It's a Native American casino, Chiricahua Apache casino actually. We, er, found an addenda to a treaty made in 1875, giving this land to the tribe." Doyle sounded a bit embarrassed.

"You "found" the addenda?" Kate said suspiciously.

"Let us not look a gift horse in the mouth, Mrs. Castle." Doc said softly.

"When the local authorities found that we had a wealthy investor from New York interested, everyone loved the idea. We've upgraded the local airport, gotten the saloon and casino built and have one hotel tower up. We've made money from day one. And Doc loves it here."

Doc nodded. "With my lungs healed, I feel I'm back in my prime. I'm in my prime."

"Doc does watch Val Kilmer as him a lot." Doyle said.

There was a knock on the door and Big Nose Kate stuck her head in.

"Doc, it's time for your gunfight."

"Excellent. Will you join me, my love? And Curly Kate and the Dude as well?"

Once Doc explained what was expected of them, they agreed.

Ten minutes later they stepped out onto the shooting range. Behind then, in tiered seats and behind bullet proof glass, were several hundred spectators. The voice of a public address announcer boomed.

"Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to the Doc Holliday shootout. Joining Doc today will be Curly Kate Beckett, a New York Police Department detective, best known as the inspiration for the famous Nikki Heat."

There was applause and cheering for Kate.

"Next to Curly Kate is her husband and world-famous novelist, Richard "Dude" Castle."

Castle also got applause and cheers.

"And lastly, we have Big Nose Kate herself, Doc Holliday's lady love."

Big Nose Kate was obviously popular as she got more applause and cheers than anyone.

"Now, let me explain how the gunfight works." The announcer said. 'Our gunslingers' guns are loaded with frangible ammunition. Now those are bullets made of compressed copper powder that will crumble to bits and pieces when it hits something. Now they can still hurt you, folks, so don't try this at home."

"Now naturally, our _pistoleros_ aren't going to shoot at each other. They'll be firing at special man-sized metal targets some twenty feet from them. When the targets are hit, they record the time of the hit and the location, so we can tell who won. Just to make it interesting, we place life sized photographs of the West's most feared gunslingers on the targets. As always, the winner, if it's other than Doc, will get one thousand dollars, cash money, coin of the realm. In the event of a tie with Doc, the other gunfighter wins and in the case of a tie between two, or more, shooters other than Doc, the money is split evenly."

"Now, let's see who our heroes are facing today."

Doc's target popped up.

"Doc Holiday will be facing Johnny Ringo today folks."

The audience booed Ringo.

The target in front of Kate popped up.

"Curly Kate will be facing Curly Bill Brocius."

Curly Bill was roundly booed.

"Dude Castle will be facing Ike Clanton."

Once again, the villain was roundly booed.

"And the lovely Big Nose Kate will face Billy Clanton."

There were cheers for Big Nose Kate and boos for Clanton.

"Now, gunfighters, make sure your weapons are holstered and when you hear me yell draw, you may fire."

The atmosphere became tense as they waited for the word to draw.

"Draw!"

There was a burst of gunfire.

"Well," said he announcer, "let's see who won."

A green light came on over Doc's target. Then another came on over Kate's target.

"There you have it, folks, Curly Kate Beckett has tied Doc Holliday for time and both fired kill shots. Let's see how the others did."

A yellow light went on over Big Nose Kate's target.

"Big Nose Kate drilled Billy Clanton right between the eyes, but was a tenth of a second too slow."

A red light came on over Rick's target.

"Dude Castle was three tenths of a second behind Big Nose Kate, and well, his bullet hit a bit south of a kill shot. However, Ike Clanton won't have much fun with the ladies now."

The audience laughed.

"I'd like to announce that Curly Kate has asked that her winnings be sent directly to the Johanna Beckett Scholarship Fund. Doc has advised me that he'll match that amount."

The audience applauded.

Just before sundown, Rick and Kate were relaxing in the owner's suite on the top floor of the hotel. Neither was dressed for dinner yet, Kate's red silk dress was on their bed, and Rick's tux was on a hanger.

Kate, dressed in just a bra and panties, came over to stand by Rick, who wore only boxers.

"This must have been what Arizona looked like in 1881." Rick said, staring out the window. "You can almost see the prospectors, the Apaches, the soldiers and the cowboys out there."

Kate took a sip of her drink. "However, no one ever looked at them from twenty stories up, through a plate glass window, in air-conditioned comfort while sipping champagne."

"And there's my wife bringing me back to reality again." He pulled her close and kissed her forehead.

"I tried to get Doyle to give me some spoilers about how our lives would be, but all he'd say was that we'd never see him and some famous gunfighter again."

"So, we'll have long, happy lives?" Kate asked.

"Always, Kate."

She kissed him. "Always, Rick."

**Author's note: Next up I'll be working on a sequel to Into Africa. I sure hope I can make it interesting. I mean, what would possibly go wrong on an archeological dig in North Carolina? **


End file.
